Baylor women learn pathway for another title bid

Updated 10:47 pm, Monday, March 18, 2013

Baylor women's coach Kim Mulkey, center, and her team enjoy the NCAA Tournament selections even though there wasn't any mystery as to the Lady Bears' seeding.

Baylor women's coach Kim Mulkey, center, and her team enjoy the NCAA Tournament selections even though there wasn't any mystery as to the Lady Bears' seeding.

Photo: Jerry Larson, MBO

Baylor women learn pathway for another title bid

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WACO - In keeping with sound evangelical tradition, the familiar strains of "When the Saints Go Marching In" rang out Monday night on the campus of the world's largest Baptist institution of higher learning.

But this rendition had a specialized meaning for the fans and players of the Baylor women's basketball team, which was selected as the top overall seed in the NCAA women's tournament that concludes with the Final Four in New Orleans on April 7-9.

The defending champion Lady Bears (32-1) open play in the Oklahoma City Regional at the Ferrell Center, where about 200 fans joined players to watch the tournament selection show, at 6:30 p.m. Sunday against 16th-seeded Prairie View A&M (17-14), another of the four Texas schools in the 64-team women's field.

Texas A&M, seeded third in the Spokane Regional, opens with Wichita State in College Station, and Texas Tech, the Spokane seventh seed, plays South Florida in Lubbock. Both games are Saturday.

But the women's tournament, at least on paper, is all about which team, if any, can keep pace with Baylor and history-making 6-8 center Brittney Griner of Houston, whose at-the-rim prowess prompts Lady Bears fans to wear shirts reading "Dunk Like a Girl."

ESPN, in fact, posted the Twitter hashtag #BaylorVSField in an effort to stir debate about whether anybody can knock off the Bears; Notre Dame, the top seed in the Norfolk Regional, was the initial choice over the other top seeds, Connecticut and Stanford.

Even Baylor coach Kim Mulkey likely wouldn't go that far. But Mulkey's choice of fashion, a black top with the Louisiana fleur-de-lis and the words "New Orleans," indicated her goals and her expectations for the defending champions.

"At our very first public gathering (for the 2012-13) season, I wore this shirt, and I wanted to make sure I wore it today," Mulkey said. "We're not overlooking anybody, but this is what we're playing for, and this is our goal.

"We've never been afraid to tell people it's our goal to defend our championship, but at the same time we've got to get there first. So I guess (Tuesday) I'll wear a shirt that says 'Waco,' because we've got two games in Waco, and then I'll wear one that says 'Oklahoma City.' "

At this point, the Lady Bears just want to play anybody other than themselves. They've been scrimmaging and practicing since they captured the Big 12 tournament title in Dallas on March 11, and they have another five days of work before Sunday's game with Prairie View.

"It's good to see somebody different," Griner said. "I really don't know much about the other teams. I know they're going to fight and play hard."

Actually, with the likes of forward Brooklyn Pope and guards Odyssey Sims and Jordan Madden on the floor during practice, Sims said Baylor benefits from the daily pre-tournament practice grind.

"Us going against each other is best for us. It makes us better," Sims said. "This one more week makes everybody anxious, and we wish we could wake up and play tomorrow. When Sunday comes, we'll be ready."

Nothing for granted

The temptation is to write off the Waco sub-regional and likely the Oklahoma City Regional, which also features Tennessee, UCLA and Purdue among the top four seeds, as a warm-up round for Baylor's trip to New Orleans.

Mulkey, however, expects the best from all of Baylor's opponents, including Prairie View, which won the Southwestern Athletic Conference tournament and is led by tournament MVP Kiara Etienne and by SWAC Player of the Year Latia Williams. But she also expects it from the Lady Bears themselves.

"You're going to see everybody's best, and you should," Mulkey said. "What makes it so much fun is whether you win or lose, most of the teams play probably their best, even in losses. We're all ready to play."

The kicker is that in Griner, whose 3,203 career points are second in NCAA history and whose 736 blocked shots are unequaled by a male or female NCAA player, Mulkey has the best player in the field.

"Brittney Griner, after winning the national championship last year, has erased any doubt in people's minds as the greatest ever to play the game," Mulkey said. "She impacts both ends of the floor."

And Griner sees no reason that Baylor, 106-4 over the last three seasons, can't duplicate last year's title run.

"We feel like we are on the same track," she said. "It may not be the same team; there are new players. But we're on the same track as we were last year and headed in the right direction."